Open source coding is rapidly overtaking proprietary software development, confirming its position as the driving force in evolving marketplace trends, according to a study conducted by Github.

Open source coding lets users collaborate on software code, giving them the ability to store and edit code independently. It is designed to make projects built with its software publicly accessible, and has been the key to success for companies like Airbnb and Uber, which have made their fortunes by offering services, rather than the software itself.

“The previous generation of developers grew up in a world where there was a battle between closed and open source,” said GitHub's Ben Balter, a researcher with the web-based hosting service for source code and open source software projects. “Today, that is no longer true.”

Blue Sky for Open Source

In the age of computers, proprietary - known as closed source software - was the first to sweep the marketplace, and products like Microsoft Office were almost universally indispensable. Under the terms of the software, only the original code writers had the right to legally change or copy the code.

Open code has changed the paradigm, encouraging users to add or edit the code employed to create a piece of software, under the hypothesis that a collective mind will be far more effective than an individual.

The most important driver for this development, however, has been the advent of titan internet services like Twitter, as gigantic internet services companies depend heavily on the coding public to help identify and fix glitches in their systems.

“Twitter has been built on open source since the beginning,” says the company on its Github page. “Openness is part of our DNA. The projects you see here were born at Twitter, and patches are always welcome!”

The projects on the Twitter site include themes such as a Twitter-Server, which defines a template from which its services are built, using the Scala code. Another project aims to create a real-time graph processing library, called GraphJet, using Java code.

Rules of the Game Have Changed

One reason open source code has become so popular is the entire software business model has changed dramatically. Companies such as Microsoft relied on the revenue from software sales, while service-providing companies including Facebook and Google rely on value-added services and advertising for revenue.

Open source coding started with hobbyist computer programmers, but it has since received the backing of major companies because it enables the software developers to utilize the time and energy of the public to undertake labor-intensive and expensive work such as testing and fixing bugs in the system.

The Java programming language, for example, was originally proprietary but has since developed into open source, according to Github. Its popularity as a programming language is due to its use to create open source software. It's easy to write, compile and debug, and is platform-independent.

The language remains tremendously popular among social media vehicles such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and is also the primary programming language for building apps on Android phones, although some programmers opt to use alternate, but still popular versions including Python, Perl and PhP.

An Open Backlash?

Proponents of open source coding say it represents a broader approach to computer programming that favors collaboration over competition. “Open source projects, products or initiatives embrace and celebrate principles of open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development,”
states Open Source Resources on its website.

Others in the computing industry disagree, however, and claim that the economics of open source coding are unsustainable by encouraging an environment in which even tech giants Google, Amazon and Facebook no longer feel obliged to pay for the development of the software they rely on for critical infrastructure computing functions.

“When focusing on the infrastructure (cloud) computing space, there is a dogmatic feeling throughout the industry that core tooling such as compilers, operating systems, databases, load balancers, etc. should be free and open,” says Matt Klein, a software engineer at Lyft.

Companies also see releasing open source software as a way to recruit new employees eager to demonstrate their abilities by working on the code. It also bolsters public image, shaping enterprises in the likeness of technological kingpins, Klein says, and building a platform for them to offer cloud services.

In order to make open source software pay, companies may then try to sell services, such as analytical tools or management systems, that run on the software for a fee.

Philip O’Toole, a software engineer with Google, disagrees, arguing that successful development of projects rely on a creative team and the ideas they bring, rather than the code itself.

“It is of little benefit to a competitor that the source is freely available, when the team behind the project is probably six months ahead — and often more — conceptually in terms of design, development and process,” says O’Toole. “The real value is within the development team and its ideas, that the team behind the software are, and remain, innovative, execute well, and produce quality software.”

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Pierre-Yves has in-depth experience with a range of core technical and business strategies and processes including ERP and CRM. As COO at VitalBriefing he is particularly passionate about how disruptive technologies and innovative business models shape the future of every industry.